Tormhuvastijatt
Along the Opal Coast, at the southwestern edge of Kassun, is a region where it hasn't stopped storming and raining for eight hundred years. For a long time people thought the place was pretty much uninhabitable- the rains aren't necessarily harsh most of the time, but there are no beaches and there isn't much to survive on aside from fish and a few species of albino seaweed and mushrooms that don't need sunlight to survive. About the only race which can actually live here long term effectively are the Luwuinn, and they figured that out about six centuries ago and capitalized on such knowledge immediately. Within a matter of years they carved for themselves a nice little kingdom and named it Tormhuvastijatt, the Kingdom of Endless Storms. It is now a thriving coastal community whose primary exports include all sorts of exotic oceanic products that are difficult to get in other places either due to monsters, pollution, horrors, or some combination thereof. This gives the native Luwuinn some presence in the international marketplace- not a huge one, but one that lets them import and work with foreign goods and keep up to some extent with modern developments, while at the same time letting them remain mostly isolated. Win-win scenario, as far as the Luwuinn are concerned. Tormhuvastijatt is built partially within a cleft in the side of a sheer cliff, partially underwater, and partially within a volcano which has been dead for many thousands of years. Luwuinnese scouts discovered all sorts of tunnels carved out by weather, magna, and tectonic activities, as well as several hidden coves with magical properties, and that allowed them to begin carving out their nice little kindom from the otherwise lifeless rocks. Protected by the seas, the storms that rage around the coast, and a three hundred foot tall, six foot thick chunk of solid stone known as the Collifrevre Wall, the Tormian Luwuinn have prospered considerably and rebuilt a population that was once on the verge of extinction due to conflicts with various subaquatic enemies and horrors. There's almost no way into Tormhuvastijatt without the locals providing a path, unless one wants to risk being torn apart by the stormy skies, or dashed against the sharp, jagged rocks by the turbulent Lennus waters, and then wants to fight their way through the local knightly orders. All this protection allows the Luwuinn to stay pretty safe in their little nation, though the cost for that is dramatically reduced developmental progress. The Tormian Luwuinn are quite behind on the times, only in the last twenty five years have they even gotten interested and made widely available radio technology, firearms, or non-animal powered vehicles. Beyond that they could be considered an 'atypical' Luwuinn civilization- see the Luwuinn entry for general information on culture and society- and are often upheld as a hallmark of Luwuinnese racial traditions. It is ruled by a strong queen, HRM Amelie Myajeni, who is assisted, attended to, and protected by the knightly orders of the Rainy Star, the Thundercloaks, the Watery Spirit, and the Coral Crown. These orders are not very large, but well equipped and highly trained, and those who join are made to swear magically binding oaths of loyalty after performing great and honorable deeds to prove themselves- an effective if small supplement to local militia and police forces. The orders of the Thundercloaks and Coral Crown, over all the rest, have been pushing hard for heavier modernization of Tormhuvastijatt. It has been their collective dream and goal ever since their orders were founded for the kingdom to keep up with the rest of the universe, fearing that if they fall too far behind they may well suffer the same catastrophes that befell their people centuries before, or that they'll be unnecessarily vulnerable in the event that another nation decides to try and conquer them. It is however a particularly slow and arduous process at the best of times; the salty sea air and constant rainfall promise an omnipresent threat of rust. Anything that is adopted by the Tormians must be water and weather proofed if it's to survive for more than a few years, so the most common excuse for their lack of modernization is not wanting to waste money on things that simply won't pass the test of time. They're lucky they've gotten a handful of small naval vessels, some modern medical equipment, and a few computerized systems for accounting. Racial Census: 90% Luwuinn, 10% Other. Primary Language: French. Secondary languages: English, Italian, Aquan. Kassun Back to Main Page